Darwin Brewing General Manager Matt Cornelius says that while the brewery grew out of the business at Darwin's on 4th, Santa Maria hasn't been involved in the day-to-day operations at the brewery for "a good while."

"We wouldn't be here today without Darwin," Cornelius says, "but the fact of the matter is not much has changed here. We have the same brewers brewing the same good beer." That team includes Brewmaster Jorge Rosabal; new Small Batch Brewer Megan Michael, who is replacing the outgoing Leslie Shore; and Package Manager Jeromy Dana.

Cornelius says that even with Santa Maria's departure, the brewery won't be changing its name anytime soon. "People recognize our name and our logo the way that it is," Cornelius says. "We're not very eager to move away from that." The ownership team includes Cornelius, Rosabal and Corenlius' father, Bill Cornelius, who was also a partner with Santa Maria at Darwin's on 4th.

"I wish Darwin Brewing Co. nothing but the best," Santa Maria says. "I want them to succeed as a brewery, because I worked really, really hard on that concept."

In his Facebook post, Santa Maria wrote that he has not "ruled out the possibility" of launching "a new brewery or brewpub," but where that might be or what it might look like remains undecided. Santa Maria recently spent time visiting breweries and brewpubs in his native Peru with Charlie Papazian, the president of the Brewers Association, a craft beer trade group. He's visiting Ecuador soon and hopes to travel to Japan, as well. He's also done consulting work. Whether his next venture is located in Sarasota or Bradenton or even the United States still hasn't been sorted out.

Santa Maria says he's trying to figure out "what's next for craft beer" and is in the middle of "reinventing" himself. "I'm going to keep going and doing the things I used to do before," he says. "My love of food and craft beer is going to continue."

Next up for the brewery, meanwhile: A bottle release event for its bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout Big Deal, which takes place at 1 p.m. Sat., Nov. 21. "We're excited to move forward," Cornelius says.

Last modified: November 15, 2015
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